One Day
by SSAShowerThoughts
Summary: Aaron Hotchner was a very respectable man. There were people in the bureau who would have killed to be in his position. He was the lawyer with a 98% success rate who scored a profiling job running the most pristine and desirable unit in the FBI; he was the man young recruits would write on their resume that they wanted to be like when they graduated the academy. Well, he was.


**Title: One Day**

 **Characters: [Jennfier 'JJ' Jareau, Aaron Hotchner] Jack Hotchner, David Rossi**

 **Summary:** **Aaron Hotchner was a very respectable man. There were people in the bureau who would have killed to be in his position. He was the lawyer with a 98% success rate who scored a profiling job running the most pristine and desirable unit in the FBI; he was the man young recruits would write on their resume that they wanted to be like when they graduated the academy. Like I said, he _was_ all of those things, but now, now people feared their life would look like his.**

 **WARNING: Character Death.**

* * *

Aaron Hotchner was a very respectable man. There were people in the bureau who would have killed to be in his position. He was the lawyer with a 98% success rate who scored a profiling job running the most pristine and desirable unit in the FBI; he was the man young recruits would write on their resume that they wanted to be like when they graduated the academy. Like I said, he _was_ all of those things, but now, now people feared their life would look like his.

The ripple effect started when he was attacked by the Reaper all those years ago. His ex-wife and son were snatched away from him and put in protective custody not to be seen for months while he lay in a hospital bed recovering from 9 stab wounds, only to go back to his unit and resign as the leader. Though he wasn't looked down upon, people certainly didn't admire his life like they did beforehand. But when the story got out that he single handily killed the Boston Reaper with his bare hands, people respected him again, saw him for who he really was. Of course, nobody mentioned that George Foyet did actually kill his ex-wife- that detail was always missed out when people praised the story of him beating a serial killer to death.

Once he was back on his feet leading the BAU again, the past was in the past and people were back to admiring him and every move he made. Faking the death of one of his agents only made his life more desirable, agents all over the place dying to be such an amazing man.

I was one of those agents, I have to admit. Obviously not the selfish and cold hearted ones who talked highly of his time around George Foyet but, boy did I want to be him. Well, that is what I thought when I met him anyway. He interviewed me and gave me a position on his team and I was starstruck; _the_ Aaron Hotchner had given me a job to work on his team, to be a part of everything everyone envied. Of course, I never let him know this, never showed him how much I admired him. That was until I fell in love with him. It was so sudden, like someone had hit me with a bus full of love. We were on a case, not long after his divorce, and I saw him walk out of a building carrying two twins in his arms after taking down a child rapist. We had caught him before the twins were touched, and seeing him in that heroic stance outside this house in the middle of LA threw me. I was in love with Aaron Hotchner. Of course nobody knew, besides every single member on the team. _Damn profilers._ They all had a pool going for how long it would take for us to confess out undying love for each other, because as much as I denied it, he felt the same as well. When Haley was killed, the teasing stopped, for a long time, but after two years I was cornered in my office by his best friend.

 _"So, when are you going to tell him how you feel?"_

I could have spit in his face right there and then, but I controlled myself because the question threw me. _Was I ever going to tell him?_ Well, of course I was, but it took two bottles of tequila to do it. He must have been so embarrassed when I showed up on his doorstep that Saturday night, stumbling over every word I was saying and barley being able to keep myself upright. I was downright gobsmacked when he exclaimed that he felt the same- well, apparently I was because the night is a bit of a blur for me. Romantic, I know. We started dating almost immediately and five years down the line, we got married. It was probably the best day of my life, well, the second best. The best day of my life was when Jack handed me an envelope on the 2nd birthday I celebrated with the Hotchner's, an envelope enclosing adoption forms.

 _"What do you think, mom? Do you want to adopt me?"_ I was brought to tears in seconds. Of course I wanted to adopt him. He was a remarkable young boy who had been through something I wouldn't wish upon anyone and somehow turned out more brilliant than ever. Aaron of course got it all on video, the whole ugly cry being shown on the war room projector the following day in front of the entire team. 2 years later, a similar video was up there, but this time it was Aaron proposing to me. He had been so distant I honestly thought he was going to break up with me, but once night, Jack was out with Penelope and Derek and he cooked me the most romantic meal. After dessert, he took me outside where he had decorated the garden in fairy lights and candles. I, of course, was so engrossed in the lights, I never saw him get down on one knew or spot the camera in the corner recording us.

 _"Once upon a time, I thought there was only one love for me and that I had completely blown it. Then one day, my eyes truly opened to appreciate you and everything you do for me and I was swept off my feet. You have been with me through so much trauma, so much heartbreak, and somehow you stayed loyal to me and I am so grateful for everything you have done. The day you told me you loved me was such a relief, because I was adamant I was bound to spend the rest of my life watching you grow old with someone else knowing how I feel about you and it almost ruined me. I have never been as happy as I am with you and I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me. Will you marry me?"_

I would have been stupid to say no! I almost knocked him over as I wrapped my arms around his neck, exclaiming _"yes, yes, of course I will!"_ over and over again at the top of my lungs. We were married the following year and I became something I had only dreamed of being.

 _Mrs. Jennifer Jareau-Hotchner_

His life was perfect, and those agents who cried over it were right to. But as I stand at his side today, watching all those agents who had begged to be him; the thoughts going through their heads were nothing more than fear once again. Because nobody, _nobody_ wants a life like Aaron Hotchner. I grab his hand as he stands at the foot of the freshly dug grave, watching as the tears continuously pour down his cheeks, Rossi rubbing his other arm comfortingly.

"Come on Aaron, it's time to go." He whispered, the broken man shaking his head, the tears flying from his cheeks, as his knees buckled and he took both me and Rossi to the floor with him. The rain soaked through his suit jacket as he lashed out at the floor, his sobs loud, echoing around the graveyard as people slowly head to their cars. The only people who remained were the team and a teenage boy, watching from afar, their hearts shattering as they all shared their own sets of tears.

"I can't leave, I can't." He sobbed, his body shaking against the cold, wet grass. He turned suddenly when a small hand rested on his shoulder, the solemn face of his son looking down at him.

"We can't stay here dad. We can come back tomorrow, I promise." He sent a small smile to Rossi and I watched as he helped his father stand, the tall man wrapping his son up in his arms. I felt my own tears start to fall as Jack sobbed into his dads already soaked shirt, his small body collapsed against his dads.

"How are we doing this again dad? I don't understand." Aaron looked up at the sky, shaking his head. He didn't have an answer, although he wished he did. He didn't understand how 8 years ago he had buried his ex-wife, and today he was burying his wife, both taken away from him by sadistic serial killers he should have taken down.

I watched as they walked away, both still crying into each other, the team taking them into their arms. Rossi stood for a moment, his eyes red and puffy as he watched they head towards the cars. I walked to his side and placed my hand on his shoulder, watching as he tensed at the sensation.

"Look after them for me Dave. I need you to do this for me." He closed his eyes, nodding his head ever so slowly.

"I have them Jayje, I will watch over them with everything I have left in me." I leant forward and placed a tender kiss on his cheek, slowly disappearing as the clouds faded and the rain seized. He stood in shock, his hand resting on his cheek. With high shoulders, he set off to fulfil his promise to JJ, knowing it was down to him and the team to help Hotch and Jack through this. Everything would be okay one day. _One day._


End file.
